How to Make Kinetic Sand

Not Your Ordinary Sandbox Sand!

It is no secret that children love to play and get messy! But why would any sane parent, guardian, or educator want to bring a mess into their home? Well, children play in all sorts of ways to develop fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and social skills. There are activities you can do at home or school to aid children in developing these skills–one of them is encouraging sensory play.

Sensory play can build nerve connections in the brain's pathways, which will help little ones complete more complex learning tasks later in life. It can also help calm an anxious or frustrated child, and it helps kids learn sensory attributes: hot, cold, hard, soft, sticky, and dry.

Making kinetic sand is a great sensory play activity and one that a child can assist in making! Have them be your science assistant and practice skills of measuring, pouring, and mixing. Not only will they gain confidence by making something for themselves, but you’ll feel proud watching it unfold.

There are tons of other ways to make kinetic sand than what's shown here—so feel free to try out other methods if you want!

Add in Corn Starch

Use your spoon measurer to measure out 2 tablespoons of corn starch, and add it to your sand. Help a child get an accurate measurement by having them scoop the corn starch with the measurer, and then use a finger to level out the powder in the spoon by brushing it across the top.

Make the Colored Soapy Water Solution

Since kinetic sand is made up of 98% sand and 2% polymers–you will need to make a solution containing polymers to add to the sand. The polymers that we need for our kinetic sand are found in dish soap.

First, measure out a cup of water. Add in 1 tsp of dish soap. Mix together the soap and water with the measuring spoon until bubbles appear on the surface.

Continue to 7 of 9 below.

07 of 09

Add Color to Your Soapy Water Solution

Add at least 6 drops of food coloring into the soapy water solution. We used red and blue food coloring to make purple kinetic sand. The darker the soapy water solution is, the more colorful your sand will be. It takes more food coloring in the water then you think it does. Should you decide later to add more food coloring, you can do so when you are mixing your sand.

Continue to 8 of 9 below.

08 of 09

Add Soapy Colored Solution to Your Sand and Mix

Slowly pour the solution into your sand. If you pour too fast, your sand will be runny. You are aiming for a consistency of a really thick milkshake. It's best to take this step slow and mix the sand with the solution as you go—you will not need to use all the solution you made.

For mixing: roll up your sleeves and dive in with both hands!

Continue to 9 of 9 below.

09 of 09

Enjoy your Kinetic Sand

The best part of making kinetic sand is playing with it afterward! Use a plastic knife or fork to try slicing your sand. Have fun with cookie cutters and sand castle molds. If you are planning to save your sand, package it in an air-tight container or zip bag. Note that the sand may start to dry after a while (the air will evaporate the liquid in the sand). If it does, add some more soapy water solution to continue playing. Enjoy!